Have you ever walked down Bay street or any other busy street and someone is trying to give you a pamphlet you don’t want? That's what an annoying ad on any mobile device looks and feels like.
Yesterday, I was walking down Queen Street on the phone telling my best friend the drama from my day and this woman had the audacity to interrupt my conversation to ask me if I wanted a gym membership. I was annoyed. That's what a bad mobile ad looks and feels like.
First off, no I do not NEED your gym membership, I already have one and secondly, I was trying to have a conversation. This is just like being on social media or watching a video and an ad interrupts my experience to offer me a product or service that is not even applicable to my lifestyle nor offers me anything that I NEED at this very moment, time and place in my life.
Don't get me wrong, I am not an evil person who hates everything. Just last week I was scrolling through Instagram and found the most amazingly ugly pants. I saw this ad for these colour blocked pants and I knew I needed them ASAP. Although they are debatably ugly, they are one of favourite pairs of pants. Without that ad, I would have never found these pants, which my friends probably wished would have happened. But here I am today sitting in the office wearing my ugly colour blocked pants and writing you this blog.
Yes, ads can be annoying AF, and I know that the only reason why I have my pants right now is because of in-app ad, but the difference is that this particular ad was created with me in mind and I do not blame them, I am amazing. It was put in front of me at the right time and actually gave me something of value, making the interruption worth it. For that I will forever be grateful.
Here’s the drama, I give over so much information to social media and mobile sites that I cannot understand how they can get me so wrong. I know I am wild and crazy and most of the time I cannot even figure out who I am but my social media presence has built a profile about me all these years and they should be able to get me right *mic drop*.
Working at APEX, one of my many tasks is to look through articles with the most up-to-date information and statistics everyday. One statistic I found today on Digital Information World
was “video ads on mobile devices are expected to go beyond the $29 billion mark this year.” Can you imagine $29 billion dollars is being spent on advertising! I am no money expert but that seems like a lot to spend on advertising; which as a person who gets the wrong ad consistently can say does not even work.
PSA: spend money smart!!! Sometimes, we all get caught up in the creative process of ad creation. I admit I have fallen victim to this as well. I think it is important to remember that the only thing that makes a good ad better than the other is the context behind it and how relevant it is to the person watching it. The key is in the data. Simple.
That $29 Billion dollar projection does give me hope that companies will use their ad spend money to better understand their audience and put the right ad in front of the consumer in the right place at the right time.
Lilianna Scanga is an office intern at APEX Mobile Media, and is in her 2nd year at Western University studying Media & the Public Interest. Lilianna has been working with the APEX team for the last two summers.